[Clemenza]

What never ceased to amaze this New York boy is how similar working class blacks were to whites of the same social class in the south and the midwest in terms of attitudes and cultural tastes. For example, your typical white New Yorker would never be caught dead in an Applebees or Olive Garden. Local black and Latinos, however, seem to love the place.

I guess you can say that "people of color" in New York are much more "traditional" dare I say "normal" than their white counterparts in the same city.

[Huntress]

For example, your typical white New Yorker would never be caught dead in an Applebees or Olive Garden.

Why is this? Olive Garden and Applebees are very popular where I am, but then again I'm in Kansas City. Having lived on the east coast, I realize there is a big cultural difference between there and the midwest.

[AlbertWang]

I hope that we have gotten past skin color in this country. Working people, regardless of color, share the same values. This is the hope of the Republican Party. I see a growing black and Latino middle class as the future core of the right wing. The debate on gay marriage finds Hillbillies, Fundamentalist Blacks, and Catholic Latinos standing on the same ground.

[olivia3boys]

Olive Garden=yum; Applebee's=yuck